Method and means for starting and maintaining flow of viscous fluids



Oct. 12, 1943. P. H. sTAMBAuGl-l METHOD AND MEANS FOR STARTING AND MAINTAINING FLOW OF'VISCOUS FLUIDS Filed Nov. 17, 1941 3 Sheetsf-Sheet l oct. 12,y 1943.

P. H. s'rAMBAuGH 2,331,435 METHOD AND MEANS FOR STARTING AND MAINTAINING FLOW 0F VISCOUS FLUIDS Filed Nov.' 17, 1941 3 Sheets-'Sheet 2 La Il "Q EN as w V3 v N- wf/woe,

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Oct. 12, 1943. P. H. sTAMBAuGH 2,331,435

` METHOD AND MEANS Fon STARTING AND MAINTAINING FLow oF vIscoUs FLUIDs A Filed Nov.. 17; 1941 3 Sheets-'Sheet 5 l TTP/VEVJ.

Union Starch & `lteiining Company, Columbus, Ind., a corporation oflndiana application November 17, 1941, serial 10.419390 u 2 RClaims. (Cl. 103-41) This invention relates" to a method and to means for delivering sticky, glue-like, viscous fluids, such as corn syrup, through a pipe line normally initially at `a lower temperature than oi' the warmer pump through that line state of iluidity.-

By use of my invention herein syrup? requiring 'less pressure torv by reason of. itsfgreaterA shown and dethat of the'iluid to be delivered. Without limit- 5 scribed, the truck operator may interconnect his` ing the invention. Yone specific instance of theadtruck discharge f linewith the customers intake vantagelof the invention is found inl the situpipe line: set the truck. engine at a spec-inc pret. ation where corn syrupis to be delivered from a determined speed before any load is applied' distributing station by truck tank to a customers n A thereto; and then vcarry outy furtherfnnloading plant which is qlnpped with a pipe line running l operations at' a substantially constant engine from a suitable intake. generally on the youtsidel speed by manipulating valves, all without impos. of the plant, to a supply tank within the plant ing any undue stress on the pump, pipin'gfand. which may be'lccatedA on a iloor several stories hose connections. f j l above the intake point. y Under such conditions, Other objects and advantagesoi.' the invention obviously the pipe line will contain a quantity of will become apparent to those versed in theart in' corn syrup from the last delivery, and this corn the following description of one particular formy syrup will have a temperature substantially the of thel invention as illustrated'more 4orzless. diasame as' that of the pipe line and its immediate granmiatically in the accompanyingvv drawings, inl surroundings, 'so thatunder normal conditions which f 1.- this corn' syrup will -be at a temperature much 20 Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic layout of a structuref below that permitting ready ow, `and accordby which the invention may be carried out; ingly this corn syrup will so adhere to the inside Fig. 2, a view in si'de elevation of one particu# of the pipe line and be so'viscous that an yex lar form of structureembodying the invention; tremely great pressure wouldbe required to eil'vect and y e f i immediate ilow in the pipe line. 25 Fig. 3,'a view in rear elevation. '1' `I-Ieretofore the discharge 'of a truck tank has Like characters oi.' reference indicate like parts been interconnected with this plantgpipe line and in theseveral views in the drawings. r s the truck carried pump set into operation in an Referring t0 Fig.` '1,111 general. the truck tank attempt to apply suiiicient pressure to the corn I0 is equippd With an Outlet Opening normally syrup in the pipe line to permit introduction closedbya tank valve Il; Fromthis vtank opentherebehind of the warm andrmore nuid com ing leadsapipe line 12.150 afdischarge pump I3 syrup carried in the truck tank.- 'Ihe result has that., through'anysuitable driving mechanism, is been that the truck operator'was in quite a dioperated by the truck engine. From the pump lemma because-ii he permitted the truck engine I3, leads a discharge line VI5 inwhich is placed to drivethe pump in direct connection therewith, a shut-oi valve I6. A suitable connectinghose the truck engine would slow, or come part of the I1 is provided to interconnect the end 0iv the .pipe pump driving mechanism wouldshear,v with the l5 with the customers pipe line I8.; f result that the truck operator would have'to play Interconnecting. with that part of the pipe line along with the truck engine to slip the driving Iibetween'the pump I3iand the valve I Sis apipe clutch or `the like, and ingeneral take up a con- 40 line I9 whichA leads back and discharging intorthe siderable period of time before he could estabtruck tank l0. '8 1 .Valve being interposed in this lish a ow oi' corn syrup through the pipe line. L v line I 9 betweenf'the'y tank l'III' and the 1 main disey lIt is to be understood that theecorn syrup carchargel line I5. h Leading voill iromthepipe.; line ried by the truck tank is in thatheated or warm VI9 between yits valve 2liv and the interconnected state permitting ready pumping-thereof, th corn line l5 iSa pipe 2l leading-150' yan Aair.,xchamhier syrup having `beenpreviously heated at the dis- 22, herein shown as-generally cylindrical inffumi trlbuting point-and the truck tank under certain and lcarrying a pressure gauge4 23? connected weatherconditions being insulated so as to contherewith toindicate pressuresfwithin thefcham'- Servethatheet- Y ber zz. 7. e In arriving at the present invention, I conceived 50 Referring now. tot Figs.'.2 and 3, this`basic? coiny the condition that it ay steady relatively low pres- `bination is mountedfonthe truck iramerdzcare, sure be appneda't'the'fmtakeend of said pipe Tying' 'the r tankf'lftat any suitable.location,` line, andthatpressurebe maintained sufficiently herein shown, as on thekrear end'zthereof,zthe longs, the colderrsyruprin thatvpipeglinewould f details ofY-ethefimounting.notbeing showny since eventually start flowing to permit the entrance 56 they do not per se enter into the invention. In

the application illustrated, the pump I3 is mounted under the tank I to receive its uid from the tank by gravity flow and the line I5 leads from the underside of the pump rearwardly to connect with a tting 25 from which the dls charge line extends in two branches I5 and I5. the two branches being provided simply for convenience in this particular form so that the hose I I may be selectively connected on the end of either the branch I5 or the branch I5* to provide as short a coupling as possible with the customers intake pipe I8. From the iitting 25, the pipe I9 leads upwardly with the valve 20 having a hand wheel 26 extending rearwardly for convenient operation. From the side of the pipe line I9 leads the connection 2| to the air chamber 22. It is to be noted that the valve I6 is duplicatedin position and eiect for the branch line I5* so that flow may be selectively controlled to either of these branches. In order to preserve the initial heat applied to the corn syrup in the tank I0, the pump and the various valves are preferably surrounded by some insulating wall 7.1 preferaby having a 4rear removable cover 28. The compartment formed within this wall 21 may be heated by any suitable means, such as by running the exhaust of the truck engine through a muiiler mounted therein or a pipe line carried therethrough (not shown).

The pump I3 is driven by any suitable mechanism, such as by the shaft 29 leading from a power take-oil' (not shown) on the truck through a iiexible coupling 30; drive shaft 3I; chain drive 32; shaft 33; chain drive 34; and the pump shaft 35. Through these chain drives. the suitable speed ratio may be obtained as between the pump speed and the engine speed.

Now assuming that the truck tank I0 has arrived at the customers plant and that the com syrup, as an example, is in a warm or heated state in the tank, the operator will open the tank outlet valve II; the valve I6 having been initially placed in the closed condition; and the valveI 20 is open. The pump I3 is set into operation by interconnection with the truck engine and then the operator takes up a position at the' valves I6 and 2U and the pressure gauge 23. With the valve I6 closed, the valve 20 open, and the pump I3 operating. Warm syrup is then circulated around through the pipe I2, pump I3, pipe I5, pipe I9, valve 20, and pipe I9 back into. the truck tank. The pump then runs smoothly and with little effort while these various elements just enumerated are being cleared and warmed by the warm syrup.

While this circulating operation `is being peri'orr'ned` the hose I'I is interconnected between the pipe I5 and thecustomers pipe line I8. Then the valve I6 is opened to its full-open condition. The valve 20 is then slowly manipulated toward a closed position, the degree of operatori of the valve 20 being limited for the time being to build up a pressure in the air chamber, the extent of the pressure being observed by noting the pressure gauge 23. 'Ihe valve 20 is not completely `closed but is allowed to remain partially open to permit enough syrup to flow back through the pipe line I9 into the tank I0 to maintain a preoperationof the pump I3 Within its normal operating limits and without unduly high stresses, so that in no event will there be any occasion to damage the drive between the pump I3 and the truck motor 'or to stall or choke down the truck engine.

This predetermined pressure is maintained by manipulating the valve 20. The pressure would normally tend to drop after a period of time of application of that pressure upon the pipe line I8 since the steady push on the cold syrup in the line I8 will eventually set that cold syrup into motion although that motion is initially quite slow. Movement of that cold syrup would be accompanied by a tendency for the pressure to drop as noted at the gauge 23, and the valve 20 would then be turned toward a closed position a little further to maintain the predetermined pressure on the line I8, until finally the valve 20 may under most conditions be completely closed, although in some instances, the predetermined pressure may be such that the valve 2l) will be finally left in a slightly open position in order to maintain the required delivery pressure.

All of this is accomplished while the pump I3 operates at its optimum speed for best performance, without any irregular or momentary applications thereto of excessive power. fore it is to be seen that by use oi.' my invention, the customers pipe line has initially applied lthereto a pressure that will not immediately determined pressure in the air chamber and acforce the cold corn syrup to flow, but will be applied for a period of time to permit that pressure to be gradually transmitted through the pipe line to overcome the resistance of the normally high adhesionof the chilled high viscosity Ysyrup to the pipe wall.

Further it is to be noted that the pump is initially started to circulate warm corn syrup to free the valves, pump inlet and pump outlet lines so as to prevent pounding and knocking that has heretofore occurred in the absence of the use of my invention.

In describing the invention, reference has been l.made to the cold syrup appearing in the customers pipe line I8. Normally this line is drained following each delivery of a tank of syrup, but there will always be some syrup adhering to the pipe which will settle down and :dll the lower portion of the pipe at least, and then the initial Warm syrup delivered into that pipe line will chill until the line is warmed. It is the chilled syrup of these two conditions to which reference has been made. Furthermore it is to be noted that even though the residual chilled corn syrup remaining in the customers pipe I8 is only that which is retained there by adhesion around the wall of the pipe, that coating will in itself reduce the normal cross-sectional area of the pipe to set up resistance to ilow. In other Words, the newly entering syrup encounters considerable resistance by its contact with the wall of the pipe or this chilled coating, it being kept in mind that the syrup has great adhesion to the pipe wall and, therefore, .through this adhesion alone sets up a very high resistance to flow. It is also to be noted that the discharge pressure applied to the line I3 is always built up by manipulating the valve t'4;10 and not by opening the truck engine throt- While I have herein shown and described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that structural variations may be employed without departing fromthe spirit of the invention and I therefore do mt desire to be limited to that precise form-beyond the limitations as i may be imposed by the following claims.

constant pump speed to have the pump build up a predetermined limited pressure of the iluid on the pipe-line by reason of resistance to ilow in the pipe-line and said restriction, maintaining that pressure substantially constant until said pressure induces a iiow in the pipe-line as indi,- cated by the tendency of said pressure to drop, and maintaining a'substantially xed pipe-line ow pressure by varying the restriotion to said circulatory ow, increasing the restriction upon A pressure drop and decreasing the restriction upon pressure rise.

2. That method of starting and maintaining a ow of normally highly viscous and adhesive fluid such as corn syrup through' a pipe-line throughv which ilow vof uid of the same characteristics has been previously had and discontinued, which comprises setting up a. circulatory ilow at substantially atmospheric pressure from a tank of heated like uid by means of a pump whereby the temperature of the uid in said ow becomes substantially that of said tank uid the temperature -of which is thatpermitting relatively free flow of the fluid but below the temperature of discoloration of the fluid, opening said pipe-linev to said circulatory ow whereby pressures set up in that flow may be transmitted to the pipe-1lne restricting said flowin that part between said tank and said pipe-line opening whereby a predetermined pressure may be built up' in said pipe-line by increase in pressure in said cw controlled yby limiting ow of the fiuid back to said tank, holding that predetermined pressure on the pipe-line until warmer uid from said tank flows in the pipe-line, and then further restricting said circulatory ow to increase lthe volume of iluid ilow in the pipeline.'

- PAUL H. STAMIBAUGH. 

